Amending The Us Constitution: State Approval Needed

Amending the US Constitution is a challenging and lengthy process. The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, and the last successful amendment was in 1978. A proposed amendment must be passed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, then ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures (38 out of 50 states). While state constitutions are amended more frequently and easily, the US Constitution is designed to endure, and the process of amending it is intentionally difficult.

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Congress proposes an amendment with a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate

The process of amending the US Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution. Congress can propose an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is the first of two methods of proposing amendments outlined in Article V.

The second method involves a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of state legislatures. However, this method has never been used to propose any of the 27 amendments to the Constitution. Instead, Congress has proposed 33 amendments, all of which were proposed with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.

The last time Congress achieved the two-thirds majority required to propose an amendment was in 1978 with the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment. Since then, none of the approximately 11,848 proposals introduced in Congress have gained the necessary support.

Once an amendment is proposed by Congress, it is sent to the states for ratification. The Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering the ratification process, which involves sending a letter of notification to each state governor along with informational material. The amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50 states) ratify it.

While the process of amending the US Constitution is formal and rigorous, state constitutions are much easier to modify. The current constitutions of the 50 states have been amended around 7,000 times, with some states amending their constitutions more frequently than others.

Amendments are sent to the states for ratification

Amending the US Constitution is a challenging process. The framers of the Constitution intended it to be a difficult task, as Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in the early 1800s: "to endure for ages to come." This is evident from the fact that, since 1789, approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress, yet the Constitution has only been amended 27 times.

Once an amendment is proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is sent to the states for ratification. The Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is responsible for administering the ratification process. The Archivist follows procedures and customs established by the Secretary of State and the Administrator of General Services.

The process of ratification at the state level can vary. Generally, governors submit the amendment to their state legislatures, which then decide whether to ratify it. In some states, a convention may be called, either by the legislature or through a citizen-initiated process, to consider the amendment. Some states, like Massachusetts, require citizen-initiated amendments to secure support from a portion of the legislature before appearing on the ballot.

For an amendment to become part of the Constitution, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50). This requirement of obtaining ratification from a specified number of states within a certain time frame has been stipulated by Congress on several occasions and was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1939. Once the required number of states has ratified the amendment, the Archivist issues a certificate, and the amendment becomes an operative part of the Constitution.

38 of 50 states must ratify for an amendment to pass

The process of amending the US Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution. The process involves two stages: proposing an amendment and getting it ratified.

An amendment can be proposed either by Congress, with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.

Once an amendment is proposed, it is sent to the states for ratification. An amendment must be ratified by either the legislatures of three-quarters of the states (38 out of 50 states) or by ratifying conventions in three-quarters of the states. This second method has only been used once in US history, for the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment in 1933.

The Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering the ratification process. When an amendment is ratified by the required number of states, the Archivist issues a certificate, which is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large. This serves as official notice that the amendment has become part of the Constitution.

It is important to note that the process of amending the US Constitution is deliberately designed to be difficult. While there have been over 10,000 measures proposed to amend the Constitution, only 27 amendments have been successfully ratified and incorporated into the Constitution.

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State constitutions are easier to amend than the federal Constitution

State constitutions in the US are far easier to amend than the federal constitution. While the US Constitution has been amended only 27 times, the constitutions of the 50 states have been amended approximately 7,000 times. State legislatures generate more than 80% of constitutional amendments that are considered and approved each year. The legislatures propose amendments, which are then ratified by voters. The legislatures themselves differ in their requirements for crafting amendments, with some requiring the backing of a majority of legislators and others demanding supermajority legislative support.

The ease of amending state constitutions is further demonstrated by the fact that, in 18 states, voters can place a constitutional amendment on the ballot without legislative involvement if they collect a certain number of signatures. This is known as the citizen-initiative process, which accounts for fewer than 2 out of every 10 amendments adopted each year. However, in some states, such as California and Colorado, citizen-initiated amendments are considered at a much higher rate.

The multiple paths for amending state constitutions are further illustrated by the fact that, in Florida, constitutional commissions can submit amendments directly to voters, bypassing the legislature. Additionally, state constitutional conventions, which have been less common in recent decades, have offered another avenue for amending state constitutions. From 1776 to 1986, 250 constitutional conventions were held in the 50 states, with Rhode Island's 1986 convention resulting in eight amendments approved by voters.

The variation in the frequency of state constitutional amendments is notable. For instance, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, and California amend their constitutions more than three to four times per year, on average. In contrast, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Vermont amend their constitutions only once every three to four years, on average.

Amendments can be proposed by constitutional convention

The Constitution of the United States is difficult to change and has only been amended 27 times since 1789. In contrast, state constitutions are amended regularly, with the current constitutions of the 50 states having been amended around 7,000 times.

Amendments to the US Constitution can be proposed in two ways. One way is for Congress to propose an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The other way is for two-thirds of state legislatures (34 of the 50 states) to call for a constitutional convention to propose amendments. While 33 amendments have been proposed by Congress, none have been proposed by constitutional convention.

The process of calling a constitutional convention to propose amendments is often referred to as an Article V Convention, a state convention, or an amendatory convention. This process has been considered but never utilized. Some state legislatures have rescinded their applications to call for such a convention.

There are concerns about the potential consequences of calling a constitutional convention. For example, Peter M. Shane writes that a convention could be more malapportioned than Congress, and amendments pending ratification could polarize state-level politics.

Once an amendment is proposed, the Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering the ratification process. The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the states for their consideration. The amendment becomes law only after ratification by three-fourths of the states (38 of the 50). The method of ratification is left to the choice of Congress.

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